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Jeff Gordon makes no apologies over payback move on Clint Bowyer

Jeff Gordon (24) could find out on Tuesday whether or not he will be disciplined by NASCAR for wrecking Clint Bowyer on Sunday at Phoenix. Photo by Tom Pennington, Getty Images for NASCAR

Neither Clint Bowyer nor Jeff Gordon seemed even remotely contrite over their late-race accidents at Phoenix that began as a simple on-track bump, grew into a multi-car crash and ended as a wild melee in the garage involving NASCAR officials and crewmen. Other than three wrecked cars—Gordon's, Bowyer's and that of innocent bystander Joey Logano—there were no injuries. If there are any penalties (remember “Boys, have at it?”), NASCAR likely will issue them on Tuesday.

Gordon admitted wrecking Bowyer on what should have been the next-to-last lap in Sunday afternoon's AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Gordon said it was payback for Bowyer's earlier contact that sent him into the backstretch wall and ruined a likely top-10 run. Shortly after that contact, Gordon slowed and intentionally ran into Bowyer entering turn three, wrecking both cars and that of Logano as well. After several video reviews, officials said the caution lights were on before Kevin Harvick took the white last-lap lag, meaning the race wasn't over. It ended after seven overtime laps, getting to 319, before Harvick finally took the checkered flag.

Moments after nursing his badly damaged car to his pit after the accident, Bowyer climbed out and sprinted through the pits and toward Gordon's hauler in the garage. (“That's the most workout Bowyer's had in years,” quipped race runner-up Denny Hamlin.) NASCAR officials and a country policeman kept Bowyer out, but most of the teams' crewmen went after each other.

Gordon's side of the story was simple: “Things have gotten escalated over the year and I've just had it,” he said. “Clint has run into me numerous times, wrecked me. He got into me on the back straightaway and pretty much ruined our day. I've had it and was fed up with it and I got him back.”

Bowyer's defense was that he barely touched Gordon and never expected anything to come from such minor contact. “It's a shame [because] the last person you want to get into anything with is Jeff Gordon,” he said. “The track's slick and I didn't even need to pass him. That's the thing . . . all I was doing is riding around biding my time. I barely touched him, then I feel him get into turn three and try to turn me. The next thing I know my spotter is saying that Jeff's waiting on me. It's pretty embarrassing for a four-time champion—who I consider one of the best this sport's ever seen—to act like that. It's just completely ridiculous.

“But there's nothing you can do to fix it now. It's over with. We've got to go to Homestead and I've got to beat Kasey Kahne [to be top-three in points]. But today was my opportunity to get myself back in the championship hunt. It's too bad when you're disrupting a championship run like that. It's just crazy [because] I didn't even need to pass him. He slipped up and I get under him, and he came back. I barely touched him: I barely rubbed him and then I feel him trying to retaliate. He missed and hit the wall and made himself look like a fool.”

Officials summoned both drivers to the NASCAR hauler, but wouldn't disclose what was said. “There was a lot of tension out there running for the points and the championship,” said NASCAR vice-president Robin Pemberton. “Things like that happen and it surely was a shame. We'll continue to talk to the drivers and get them to work it out. You can read into [TV replays] a lot of ways depending on which way you're leaning even before you see the tape. The best thing is to meet with teams and drivers, put this behind us and go to Homestead and finish the season.”

Pemberton said Bowyer's status—at the time, anyway—of being a championship contender wouldn't factor into any discussion about penalties. “The races unfold as single events throughout the season,” Pemberton said. “We remind drivers to be as fair and square about things as they can. It looks like tempers got away with the best of them today.

“There are a lot of things to sift through on and off the track. We'll talk and work things out amongst the teams. It's a close community that travels together and has to work side-by-side for weeks and months and years at a time. We'll try to get everybody back calmed down and get it back to a good working situation for everybody.”